Downham and Clackclose Conservative Club
Newsletter No 1 Jan 2023
Happy New Year wishes all our members, wishing you all a happy and healthy new year. We wish we could say prosperous, but fear this might be tempting providence! We will continue to issue Newsletters throughout the year to ensure we keep you updated on what is going on at the Club.
STAFFING NEWS:
Dave Wilkinson has retired from the Club. He has been a longtime servant of the Club and has kept us going by acting as licensee in recent months. The Committee has agreed to mark his service to the Club by making him a Life Member. We also said farewell to Amy, one of our bar persons. We are grateful to her for her service to the Club.
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Marion Simpson as our new licensee and full time Head Bar Person. She will be undertaking this role on a full time, non-residential basis. Marion has considerable experience in the hospitality industry and knows Downham Market and all its foibles very well. We feel sure the Club will go from strength to strength under her management.
We have have also appointed Connor Teden as a bar person.
EAGLE HOUSE FLAT:
By having non-residential staff, we can let the flat out and bring in additional and much needed income. In order to let the flat, we need to bring this up to an acceptable standard. We will be undertaking some maintenance work including redecorating. We invite tenders from qualified decorators. Please see the Secretary for details.
FINANCES:
We recognise that, as a Club, we face a year when economic factors will determine how well we fare. Our financial year has ended, and we are preparing the accounts for the auditor. We know that, at the end of November, we were approximately £40000 in deficit. Much of this was down to a a trebling of energy costs and considerable amounts being spent on building maintenance. We will be preparing a financial report for the AGM. Our priorities going forward are to reduce energy and staff costs and generate more income. We will also have to contend with price rises. Bateman’s brewery has just informed us they will be putting up their prices by 9.7%. There is no way we can absorb this.
ENTERTAINMENT:
Our Entertainment Secretary Lynn has arranged our Entertainment programme for the coming year.
Sat 28th Jan – Travis Graham
Sat 25th Feb – Class Act
Sat 11th March Andy York
Sat 25th March – Dan Starr
Sat 15th April – Tony G
Sat 20th May Johnny Flinton
Sat 24th June Andy York
Sat 29th July – KJ & the Catt.
Sat 26th Aug – Class Act.
Sat 9th Sept – Travis Graham.
Sat 7th Oct – Tony G.
Sat 28th Oct – Sidewalk (Halloween Party.)
Sat 11th Nov – Johnny Flinton.
Sat 16th Dec – KJ & the Catt
31st Dec – Class Act.
There will be quizzes, other entertainment and an evening of mediumship – dates to be arranged. Additionally, we will be arranging some Summer Barbecues and Karaoke.
CATERING:
We are extremely pleased with the service the Club is receiving from our caterers: Linda and Laura. We have just agreed a new two-year contract. They will be launching a new Spring Menu soon. They are also going to open on a Thursday evening between 5 and 7pm so we can catch the teatime trade. Carvery is back on Sunday Lunchtime
New Club Opening Hours:
Mon – Wed 11am – 3pm & 7pm -10pm
Thursday 11am – 3pm & 5pm-10pm
Friday and Saturday —10am – 11pm
Sunday 12pm – 5ppm
Kitchen Opening Hours:
Thursday 12pm– 2.30pm 5pm – 7pm
Friday 10pm– 2.30pm 7pm – 9pm
Cooked Breakfast 10am – 12pm
Saturday 10am – 2.30pm 5pm – 9pm
Last food order at 2.15pm lunchtime and 8pm evenings.
Cooked Breakfast 10am – 12pm
Sunday 12pm – 2.30pm Sunday Lunch only. CARVERY– booking advisable.
SUBSCRIPTIONS:
A gentle reminder. These are now due!